Human Rights Activist, Femi Falana has stated that it is
illegal for soldiers to be deployed to enforce the lockdown order issued by
President Buhari.
Falana asked the federal government to reconsider deploying
troops to enforce the order, as it is up to the police to protect "our
nascent democracy" and not the military.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who stated that such acts
might make Nigeria's democracy wittingly or unwittingly militarized, urged the
military to focus on the ongoing war against insurgents in the North-East.
The statement reads;
“Following the
national broadcast of President Buhari on the COVID-19 pandemic, some lawyers
have questioned the constitutional validity of the restriction of locomotion of
people in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states. No doubt, the President is empowered to
adopt any measures deemed fit to combat the dangerous disease but such measures
have to be spelt out in a Regulation made pursuant to section 305 of the
Constitution or under the Quarantine Act. Otherwise the presidential order on
restriction of movement in the affected areas cannot be enforced by the police.
“However, while
the nation’s armed forces should be commended for making their medical
facilities available to members of the public in the fight against the highly
dangerous virus the plan to dispatch armed soldiers to the streets to enforce
the COVID-19 guidelines should be shelved because it is illegal.
“For the umpteenth
time, I am compelled to draw the attention of the military authorities to the
case of Yussuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt ) where Salami JCA (as he then
was) held that “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not
the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly
militarized. This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power
from the military in 1999. Conscious steps should be taken to civilianise the
polity and thereby ensure the survival of and sustenance of democracy.”
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